Shirley Colleen Booz (June 28, 1927 – May 3, 2009) was an American model and dancer. She appeared in a variety of advertisements created in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area in the 1930s and 40s, and also trained as dancer and performed with companies like the

Chicago Civic Opera The Civic Opera Company (1922–1931) was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theatre from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financi ...

Life and career

Shirley Colleen Booz was born in Quincy, Illinois, the daughter of Juanita Josephine "Jo" ( née Strader 1908-1992) and Burdette "Burd" Booz (1905-1982). She had a younger brother, Gerald "Jerry" Booz. Her maternal grandmother, born Bertha Estella Boone, was a relative of

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

. Her family moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where she grew up on the city's Westside, and she graduated from Austin High School. As a teenager her mother began taking her into modeling competitions and auditions, where she would often be cast for print or fashion work. She began to be compared to Shirley Temple, who was a popular actress at the same time Booz was a model. Booz's face would appear on cereal box ads, and other things marketed toward children and teens. She started training as a dancer at a young age as well, and later danced professionally with companies like the

. Wanting to attend college, she enrolled at

Elmhurst College Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July 1, 2020. Hist ...

, located in a suburb outside of Chicago. She did not like school there and returned to Chicago after a semester. She wanted to leave the hustle and bustle of Chicago, so she enrolled in

Morningside College Morningside University is a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside University has 21 buildings on a campus in Sioux City (ar ...

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

, and left Chicago by train. Her father was a relative of E.C. Booz, known for making one of the earliest forms of whiskey in the United States, the bottle in which became known as the 'Booz Bottle'. The family name became a popular term to describe alcohol. She graduated from

with her bachelor's degree in English. She helped to establish a Dance minor at the school, which it still offers today. At Morningside she met her future husband, a football player named Dean Harrington. Once she was married she began to be known by her nickname 'Chris Harrington', the origin of 'Chris' is not known. She established her own school of dance, the ''Chris Harrington Dance Studio'', where she taught thousands of students dance lessons for more than twenty years. She had two daughters, Holly and Sally. Then in 1968 at age 41, she became pregnant with her third child, another daughter named Kelly. After her third child's birth, she decided to stop teaching dance due to the physical demands on her body. Her husband founded the real estate company ''Dean Harrington & Associates'' and was the Potentate of the Abu Bekr Shriners in 1974. Dean's mother, Mildred Harrington, has a music scholarship established a Morningside, given annually to a Piano student. She died on May 3, 2009 at the age of 81 from stomach surgery complications.Chris Harrington obituary
accessed 4/10/2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booz, Shirley 1927 births 2009 deaths Female models from Illinois American ballerinas Ballet teachers People from Quincy, Illinois Morningside University alumni 20th-century American women 21st-century American women 20th-century American ballet dancers